Baaz by Anuja Chauhan

Why do they call you Baaz?' 'It means falcon, ' he replies solemnly. 'Or bird of prey. Because I swoop down on the enemy planes just like a Baaz would.' Then he grins. The grey eyes sparkle. 'It's also short for bastard.' 1971. The USSR-backed India-Mukti Bahini alliance is on the brink of war against the America-aided Pakistani forces. As the Cold War threatens to turn red hot, handsome, laughing Ishaan Faujdaar, a farm boy from Chakkahera, Haryana, is elated to be in the IAF, flying the Gnat, a tiny fighter plane nicknamed 'Sabre Slayer' for the devastation it has wreaked in the ranks of Pakistan's F-86 Sabre Squadrons. Flanked by his buddies Raks, a MiG-21 Fighter, Maddy, a transport pilot who flies a Caribou, and fellow Gnatties Jana, Gana and Mana, Shaanu has nothing on his mind but glory and adventure - until he encounters Tehmina Dadyseth, famed bathing beauty and sister of a dead fauji, who makes him question the very concept of nationalism and whose eyes fill with disillusioned scorn whenever people wax eloquent about patriotism and war... Pulsating with love, laughter and courage, Baaz is Anuja Chauhan's tribute to our men in uniform.